Jorge Patino staked claimed to the Legacy Fighting Championship lightweight title with a stunning first-round knockout of Clay Hantz.

The bout served as the featured contest of Friday’s Legacy FC 11 event, which took place at Houston’s Arena Theater. The night’s main card aired on HDNet.

“Macaco” needed a mere 64 seconds to claim the vacant belt.

The event and its broadcast were affected by Texas storms, and part of HDNet’s presentation was tape-delayed when its signal was knocked offline.

Once back on air, Hantz, a late replacement for injured Jesus Rivera, had little to offer Patino, who connected with a fight-ending punch a little more than a minute into the fight.

Patino (27-13-1) now has won four straight fights, including recent Legacy victories over notables Pete Spratt and Mike Bronzoulis. Hantz (7-4) snaps a three-fight win streak.

In the co-headliner, former Bellator and Strikeforce fighter Chad Robichaux snapped a two-fight losing streak and made a successful flyweight debut.

Robichaux, who had won 11 straight fights before back-to-back losses to Zach Makovsky and Jonathan Mackles in 2011, needed just 50 seconds to tap out recent Strikeforce fighter Joseph Sandoval.

Robichaux slapped on a north-south choke during a ground scramble to get the tap-out.

Robichaux (12-2) recently has mentioned intentions of fighting in the UFC’s new flyweight division, and the victory over Sandoval (6-3) is a solid start.

Harris makes successful welterweight debut

In welterweight action, four-time UFC fighter Gerald Harris continued his march back to the bigtime with a victory over two-time Strikeforce fighter Mike Bronzoulis.

Bronzoulis threatened at times with flashy kicks and powerful knees in the clinch, but he was unable to build a sustained striking attack in the face of Harris’ grinding wrestling game and willingness to return fire in the dirty-boxing game. Harris did get the action to the mat on a handful of occasions while looking to fire off ground-and-pound shots on the floor. But he was just as effective on the feet while pressing the action and landing the heavier blows.

Bronzoulis opened the final frame aggressively, but Harris quickly regained control of the fight while grinding out a decision win that seemed clearcut but was instead granted a split-decision result.

Harris (21-4) now has earned four straight victories since dropping back-to-back fights. Bronzoulis (13-5) has dropped two consecutive Legacy FC fights and is just 1-3 in his past four overall fights.

Refs under fire in Bush-Young no-contest, Salas TKO

Two bouts on the night featured a touch of controversy, as William “Bubba” Bush vs. Artenas Young was declared a no-contest, and Nelson Salas defeated Angel Huerta via first-round TKO. In both contests, the referee’s decisions were questioned.

In the Bush vs. Young affair, Bush (4-1) landed a few illegal blows to the back of the head. Young (7-4), working under the impression he had five minutes to recover, was ruled ineligible to continue when he did not immediately return to fighting, and the bout was ruled a no-contest despite the obvious disappointment of both fighters.

Meanwhile, Huerta (5-1) was doing his best to defend a Salas (4-0) punching attack on the floor but the bout was waved off with 15 seconds left in the opening round. Much of the crowd felt the assault wasn’t worthy of a TKO win, but the referee’s decision was already made.

In other main-card action, Evan Cutts (4-0) remained unbeaten with a second-round submission victory over fellow welterweight Lee King (16-7-1). Additionally, Ryan Benoit (4-1) earned his fourth stoppage in four career wins after submitting Cody Williams (3-2) in the first round.

Matt Brown performed an honest career calculation that led him to his decision to retire after his next fight. His opponent, Diego Sanchez, seems to have chosen the opposite path. For many aging fighters, these are the two choices, and neither is an easy one to make.